The present invention relates generally to lighting systems and methods and more specifically to systems and methods for adapting existing light sockets for automation and remote interaction.
Every home, restaurant, hotel, or building must have lighting installed. Such lighting includes various types of light bulbs and schemes for controlling the light bulbs. The control schemes can also include some sort of automation to control lighting (on/off/dim), temperature, and power to various systems.
It is not uncommon for the existing automation in these various structures to utilize a proprietary RF protocol. The RF protocols result in limited interoperability with popular consumer electronics, as the more popular consumer electronics utilize WiFi or Bluetooth instead.
Popular consumer electronics are available that utilize Bluetooth, however a smartphone or other mobile computing device is required to act as a bridge from the consumer electronics to the Internet, either through cellular or WiFi communications.
It is within the aforementioned context that a need for the present invention has arisen. Thus, there is a need to address one or more of the foregoing disadvantages of conventional systems and methods, and the present invention meets this need.